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In my short time as a blog owner, I’m saddened to report that blogs do not, in fact, write about topical issues, proliferate themselves across the web, and then create thoughtful discussions in the comment sections on their own. (I have reported this to WordPress, though they seem to be slow to respond.)

Anyways. Picking up as though there hasn’t been a five month blogging gap…

Tomorrow, I’m doing my first classroom visit and I’m also discouraged to find that my initial Google search for “an author’s guide to planning a classroom visit” has not come up with a magical agenda to fill in with Spartacus-appropriate activities. Instead, I’m finding guides aimed at teachers and schools on how to prepare for said author’s visit. (Note: I certainly don’t expect banners–just someone to point me to the restroom if needed.)

I did find some simple notes on promoting your book at schools (more like, “You should try going to a school!”). That really wasn’t a huge help.

Instead, I spent time with a teaching friend and she gave me some great ideas. In addition to sharing where my ideas came from, she clarified that when kids want to know how something was written, this isn’t, “I rewrote it and sent it to my publisher and then he blah, blah, blah, blah…” but more of about where I physically wrote and how I kept myself organized and how I got in the mood for writing–and while I don’t know if my technique really is the best, I do know that I can prep myself to write about a scary circus situation faster than anyone I know.

In the mood…for writing.

And, of course, I’m going to share the books that inspired me, photos of all the coffee shops I wrote in…and photos of my cat helping me write. Duh.

She also told me to play it loose and casual. (Essentially saying that I shouldn’t read verbatim from a Power Point presentation–sad.)

Have you done a classroom visit before? How did you prepare–and how did it go?